Monday, September 14, 2015

Iraq snapshot

Monday, September 14, 2015. Chaos and violence continue, cooked intel continues, Turkey continues to use the PKK for political reasons, the United Nations pretends it's now interested in fair elections in Iraq, and much more.

The investigative committee of the US House of Representatives has
summoned Pentagon officials for a briefing about allegations of
manipulated intelligence about the war against the Islamic State (Isis).Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, and Ron DeSantis, who chairs its national-security
subcommittee, asked the defense secretary, Ashton Carter, and inspector
general, Jon Rymer, on Friday for information about an ongoing
investigation into charges from dozens of US Central Command and Defense
Intelligence Agency analysts that their superiors suppressed negative
assessments of the year-old war against Isis.

In a sign of escalating congressional interest in an unfolding
controversy, the GOP lawmakers requested briefings no later than 18
September.

The Guardian article features a photo of Rep Jason Chaffetz with the disgusting Elijah Cummings standing near him. Cummings cared about Iraq only when Bully Boy Bush was in office. Even worse, he cared about transparency only when Bully Boy Bush was in office. Benghazi found him squealing that this was an effort to destroy US President Barack Obama. After two years of him sputtering that off key whine, he switched to this is an effort (the same effort) to destroy Hillary Clinton's chances at the presidency.

Now with analysts saying their own intel is being cooked, where does the vile Elijah Cummings stand?

Yet again, he's not rushing to demand transparency.

Cummings only cares about transparency when he can use it as a partisan weapon.

Today, Rep Ron DeSantis' office issued the following:

Sep 14, 2015

Press Release

Washington, DC – Rep. Ron DeSantis (FL-06), chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, has sent letters to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Department of Defense Inspector General Jon Rymer
concerning allegations that officials have altered intelligence reports
regarding the military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq.
Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
Jason Chaffetz (UT-03), joined DeSantis in sending these letters.
DeSantis issued the following statement:“I am concerned by allegations that political objectives are being
taken into consideration regarding our national security. The data
collected by our military personnel and intelligence agents is critical
to accurately addressing threats and should not be influenced or altered
to fit an advantageous political narrative. The Committee is taking
these reports very seriously and we will investigate fully.”

There's been a great deal of press coverage in recent weeks and last week, Ali Watkins (Huffington Post) noted:News that senior U.S. intelligence officials may have doctored analysis on
the Islamic State weighs heavily on Washington. It suggests that
President Barack Obama's intelligence apparatus didn't learn from the
costly failures of the Bush era. The Daily Beast reported late Wednesday that more than 50
intelligence professionals have formally complained that their analysis
of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and of Syria's al Qaeda
branch, al Nusra, was altered by U.S. Central Command higher-ups in
order to make the U.S. military campaign to defeat those groups look
more successful than it actually was.

US military advisers in Iraq's Anbar Province, which has largely been
overrun by the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh), are sharing a
military base with an Iranian-backed Shiite militia, The New York Times
reports.The
militia, known as Kataib Hezbollah, was previously responsible for the
death of more than one thousand US soldiers during the invasion and
occupation of Iraq.But now, due to the general collapse of the
Iraqi Security Forces, the US and Kataib Hezbollah are forced to
awkwardly work together and coordinate their actions against ISIS
through an Iraqi military official. According to The Times, this
includes logistical coordination such as assuring that US airstrikes do
not accidentally hit members of the militia while in the field against
ISIS. This coordination, which is entirely a marriage of
convenience, may have the unintended consequence of ultimately
enshrining Iranian rule and control in Iraq. Already, the Iranian-backed
militias operate with little-to-no oversight from Baghdad and instead
follow Iran's commands.

The tribal leader, Mahmoud Hussein al-Alwani declared the arrival of a
US military armored force to Habbaniyah base east of Anbar.

He said in a press statement that "the arrival of an American fighting
force to Anbar give great zeal to the military forces that currently are
fighting, because of its strength, modern arming and experience in
fighting battles in cities."

It is mentioned that security sources said yesterday that hundreds of
American soldiers arrived to the base of Habbaniyah in eastern Anbar
province days ago.

Over the weekend, UNAMI issued the following:

During his meeting today with the IHEC Commissioners, the Special
Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG),
Mr. Ján Kubiš expressed the United Nations continuing commitment and
support in promoting the professionalism, independence and impartiality
of Iraq’s electoral institutions.He also condemned acts of violence targeting IHEC staff and expressed
his deepest condolences to the families of several dozens of electoral
personnel who lost their lives in attacks perpetrated by ISIL elements.“We stand together with the IHEC in condemning these cowardly acts
against its staff and condole with the families of victims, who died as
martyrs”, Mr. Kubiš said.The SRSG also reiterated the international community’s commitment,
following the renewal of UNAMI’s mandate, to support the government of
Iraq and the IHEC in preparing credible electoral processes. He also
welcomed the progress made so far by the IHEC and the Kurdistan Region
of Iraq’s Electoral Commission in clarifying their respective roles and
responsibilities which will allow the United Nations to support both
IHEC and K-IHEC in a coordinated manner.

“Strong electoral institutions free of political interferences are
crucial for sustaining Iraq’s democratic processes and the protection
and wellbeing of electoral staff are of paramount importance”, he
underlined.

That is just so sweet.

And completely worthless.

The United Nations refused to protect the Iraqi voters in 2010.

Though they were asked to create a caretaker government to allow the transfer of one administration to another, they refused.

They were actually in favor of the idea until the White House told them "no."

They went along and the result? (A) Nouri al-Maliki refused to step down and brought the government to an eight month political stalemate. (B) Nouri, who lost the election, got a second term as the votes were tossed aside in favor of a US-brokered legal contract (The Erbil Agreement).

After that, the United Nations has a lot of nerve pretending to care about votes and voting in Iraq.

Also over the weekend, the increasing ridiculous Turkish government made
outlandish charges against the PKK -- charges that are, no doubt, true
of the Turkish government itself which is why it's a good time to again
note an essay All Iraq News ran last month:The immediate justification for the launching of renewed airstrikes by
Turkey and the US is the expansion of the war against ISIS. In the wake
of the bombing in Turkey’s majority Kurdish town of Suruç, which killed
32 youth activists, the Turkish government has allegedly struck hard
against both ISIS and PKK targets. It is against this backdrop that any
analysis of the new phase of this war must be presented.

First
and foremost is the fact that even if one were to accept the Turkish
government’s official story – the suicide bomber was linked to the
Islamic State (ISIS) – not at all a certainty, the question of ultimate
responsibility becomes central. While Ankara would have the world
believe that its hands are clean, and that it is the innocent victim of
international terrorism, the reality is that Turkey has done everything
to foster and promote the growth of ISIS from the very beginning. As
such, it is the Turkish government who must shoulder much of the blame
for the Suruç bombing.

Since at least 2012, Turkey has been the
principal conduit for weapons flowing into Syria. In June of that year,
the NY Times confirmed that the CIA was smuggling weapons to anti-Assad
forces from the Turkish side of the border using agents of the Syrian
Muslim Brotherhood, long-time assets of US intelligence. Also in 2012,
Reuters revealed that Turkey had “set up a secret base with allies Saudi
Arabia and Qatar to direct vital military and communications aid to
Syria’s rebels from a city near the border… ‘It’s the Turks who are
militarily controlling it. Turkey is the main coordinator/facilitator.
Think of a triangle, with Turkey at the top and Saudi Arabia and Qatar
at the bottom,’ said a Doha-based source.”

It is now also
documented fact that Turkish intelligence (MIT) has been an active
player in the ongoing campaign to arm and resupply the terror groups
such as the al Nusra Front and others. The evidence of this fact was
made public by the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet which published video
footage along with transcripts from wiretaps confirming what many
eyewitnesses have stated: Turkish security forces have been directly
involved in shelling and support operations for Nusra front and other
jihadi groups in and around Kassab, Syria, among other sites. Many of
the very same terrorists who have been armed and supported by the
Turkish government are today being held up as enemies of Turkey, and
rationalization of the need for Turkish military intervention.

So,
with the inescapable understanding that Turkey’s government is the
primary supporter and sponsor of terrorist groups in Syria, the
justification for war becomes flimsy at best. But, if it’s not about
fighting terror, then what exactly is Ankara’s objective? What does it
hope to gain?

Today's Zaman notes, "Critics argue Turkey's announced intention to fight ISIL is a ruse to go
after the PKK, which has been waging a three-decade long war with the
Turkish state. State Department spokesman John Kirby denounced the
PKK-linked violence on Wednesday, backing Turkey's fight against the PKK
as 'self-defense.' He also called on the PKK to return to the political
process."

Did Kirby call for that?

Probably, he's becoming a non stop embarrassment these days.

So much so that the western press appears to be doing rewrites just for John Kirby.

The leaders of the PKK Kurdish guerrilla organisation
has said they have been in indirect talks with the United States,
despite being listed by Washington as terrorists, asking it to intervene
and mediate in its war with Turkey.

In an interview with Telegraph, Cemil Bayik, one of the three-man
interim leadership council of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), would
not identify the intermediaries in the negotiations – used because of
its international proscription as a terrorist group.

And he reported that August 17th so there's really no excuse for that
detail being buried or ignored just because John Kirby has never talked
about it.

PERIES: Now Baris,
some people speculate that this escalation and the nationalist sentiment
coming out of Erdogan are all leadup to the upcoming elections. Your
thoughts on that?

KARAAGAC: Well, I think behind all this
escalation of violence is Erdogan's desire to weaken the pro-Kurdish
HDP. The political party that got 13 percent of the vote in June, and
now has 80 members of the parliament. This was the biggest obstacle for
Erdogan to effect constitutional change so that he could become a more
powerful president. This is the main reason why he provoked this
violence, why he ended the ceasefire, and why the Turkish military and
the police forces are attacking the PKK.

Meanwhile, Iraq still can't pass a bill to form a National Guard but, good news, Alsumaria reports the Parliament's debated Monday on whether or not to block porn sites.

About Me

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